Love Between Coasts
by iloveromance
Summary: A decision made on a balcony the night before her wedding, sends Daphne across the country hoping to make amends with the man she hurt so deeply.
1. Chapter 1

Tears blurred Daphne's vision as she stood on the balcony of her hotel room, gazing up at the star filled sky.

_"Daphne, take it from someone who knows… You don't want to spend the rest of your life thinking about a chance that you didn't take."  
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The words echoed in her mind and in her heart as the summer breeze carried with it a familiar scent. _Night blooming Jasmine_, he'd called it. The scent conjured up an image of his handsome face and she was reminded once more of what she had done. She looked away, as though trying to avoid him and brushed away even more tears. But it was impossible to forget the way his soft, warm lips felt against hers and the hurt expression he wore when she'd ultimately broken his heart.

She wanted so much to go to him now, to tell him how sorry she was and to beg for his forgiveness. She was wrong. Promises were meant to be broken, especially to those whom you don't truly love. It was Niles she loved most, not Donny. And even though it was true that they had no idea how they could ever be together, it was a chance worth taking… a chance that she'd missed.

Unexpectedly a pair of arms went around her from behind and she felt a kiss on her neck, just below her jawline. She gasped, imagining for but a moment that it was the man she'd been thinking of, but when she opened her eyes and turned in his arms, she found herself filled with disappointment. And that disappointment was hard to hide.

"Donny…. What are you doing here?"

He smiled and kissed her deeply, the way she loved to be kissed by him… until now. And she couldn't help but worry that he might suspect something from the way she barely kissed him back. But fortunately, he seemed much too interested in other things.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He said. "I was-." His sudden pause worried her, and a million thoughts filled her head. Had he suspected anything? Could he tell that she'd been with Niles?

"Donny, what's wrong? What is it?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. You seem a little distracted."

"Oh… well, we are getting married soon… um in less than twelve hours, actually."

The kiss came unexpectedly, and more determined than before. "That long, huh? Well, that's probably plenty of time for a quick one before the real thing, huh?"

Her eyes widened at his insensitivity. "Donny!"

But he only laughed. "Relax, Daph! I was just kidding! Geez, lighten up, would ya? Can't a guy have fun on the last night before he is handed the old ball and chain?"

The thought that he placed so little value on marriage bothered her and she found herself blinking back tears that fell relentlessly onto her cheeks. Embarrassed, she turned away, but was forced to look into his eyes when she felt him turn her toward him.

"Daph, what is it?"

"Nothing." She lied. "Why?"

"You're crying."

"Oh… right. I am, aren't I? Well, I'm just so happy."

Another lie.

"Is that brother of yours giving you a hard time again?" He asked in that joking manner that was suddenly annoying.

"No Donny. It's nothing, really. Me brothers are fine. I just wish they were here. I wish me whole family was here. "

Again he laughed out loud, and she regretted the lie instantly. But even so, she knew that he would see right through her. However, it was the way he was laughing so loudly that caused her irritation. "What's so funny?"

But he continued to laugh, barely able to catch his breath. "Oh Daph, I think that all of this wedding stuff has gone to your head! Your whole family is here, remember? Your parents and your brothers? Geez, I'm going to have eight brothers-in-law! Is it brothers –in-_law_ or brother-in-_laws_?"

"Donny-."

"Well it doesn't matter anyway but I should at least learn their names, right? Let's see… There's Simon… who could forget him, right? What a character… And um… Bobby? No, um _Billy_ the ballroom-."

"Donny-."

"Damn, who am I forgetting? Do you have a brother named Fred?"

Her head was pounding even louder than her heart and she felt as though she might faint if she wasn't allowed to speak. And so she forced her way into the conversation. "Donny, I need to talk to you about something. It's important!"

He took off his jacket and looked at her. "Well honey, I'm certainly not stopping you. What is it?"

She swallowed hard, wishing this wasn't so hard.

"Donny we need to talk… about us."


	2. Chapter 2

"Donny, please say something… anything!" Daphne pleaded. But he remained silent. And then he laughed… He laughed! He laughed at the idea of talking about their relationship. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"Daphne, come on! We're getting married soon! We've been talking about this for months! What more could we possibly talk about? What we're going to do on our wedding night? Well if you must, I thought we'd start out with-."

"Donny! This is serious!"

Appalled, her tears were no longer tears of sadness and remorse, but tears of anger. Was this what their marriage was going to be based on? Jokes and lies? Was this a vision of things to come?

She swallowed hard, resisting the urge to lash out at her fiancé; to scream at him, blame him for this. if he hadn't proposed….

But she couldn't do it. This wasn't his fault. It was no one's fault but her own. And she had to face up to what she was about to do. "Donny, I can't do this."

His eyebrows rose. "Do what?"

"This… all of it. The wedding, our impending marriage." With trembling fingers she slipped the ring off of her left ring finger and handed it to him. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry, huh?"

"Yes, I-."

"You're sorry? YOU'RE SORRY? IS THAT ALL YOU CAN SAY? YOU JUST RUINED MY LIFE AND ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF IS 'I'M SORRY'?" she flinched as his voice became increasingly louder in tone and volume until it was booming. "DAMN YOU!"

"I –I never meant for this to happen, Donny, I swear it! I was going to tell you before, but-."

"But what? You decided that you'd wait until twelve hours…" he glanced at his watch. "No… less than twelve hours from our wedding to spring this on me? Do you have any idea what I've gone through to give you the wedding you wanted?"

"I did all the planning Donny! You didn't do a thing! You said you didn't want any part of planning it and I respected that!"

"Well a hell of a lot of good it did, huh?"

She was sobbing, uncontrollably, now, the sobs racking her body. But he made no attempt to comfort her. "Donny, I'm so sorry, I-."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" He screamed, making her cry harder.

The sobs were choking her now, and whatever words she wanted to say, they simply wouldn't come. And she was barely aware that he'd stormed out of the hotel room, leaving her alone with her tears. She threw herself on the enormous bed, soaking the pillow with her sadness. This had not gone well at all.

She hadn't expected him to fly into such a rage, although she should have known. She'd crushed him, on the night before his wedding, leaving him to explain to everyone that his fiance, the woman to whom he'd promised the stars, had ended their relationship.

In the course of one evening, she'd lost the two men she loved two very different men who loved her in very different ways. The ring she'd slipped off of her finger lay on the ground and she'd never felt more alone.


End file.
